MASSE DEMANDS ANSWERS ON AUTO INVESTMENT & INDUSTRY PROTECTION IN LIGHT OF THIRD SHIFT CUT AT WINDSOR FCA: Masse wrote the Industry Minister on this issue one year ago yesterday

February 28th, 2020 - 5:17pm

MASSE DEMANDS ANSWERS ON AUTO INVESTMENT & INDUSTRY PROTECTION IN LIGHT OF THIRD SHIFT CUT AT WINDSOR FCA: Masse wrote the Industry Minister on this issue one year ago yesterday

OTTAWA – Today, Brian Masse M.P. (Windsor West), NDP Innovation, Science, Industry Critic, questioned the Liberal Government on their commitment to Canada’s automotive industry following the devastating news that Chrysler is cutting the third shift at the Windsor Assembly Plant and cutting the jobs to 1500 workers this coming June 2020. The announcement was made exactly one year after Masse wrote to Industry Minister Navdeep Bains asking for him to work with Chrysler and come up with a plan that benefits Canadian automotive workers for the long-term.

“It is with bitter irony, shock and disappointment that I had to once again stand up and defend the strengths of the automotive industry to this House, one year after offering a solution to the Minister to keep the automotive industry moving in Canada,” stated Masse. “Every time the Liberals rise in the House of Commons on auto job losses or plant closures, they say the same thing, that they ‘stand with our workers.’ They hired an auto czar who recommended a robust and forward-thinking automotive policy, they have the Canadian Automotive Partnership Council (CAPC) who also recommended immediate action, and years have passed without any action. This is not standing with our workers,” said Masse.

In February 2019, Masse wrote to the Minister of Industry and asked for him to work with FCA headquarters to secure contracts for southwestern Ontario parts makers to get contracts with the millions of dollars of investments going into Detroit, Michigan’s, automotive plants which will create almost 10,000 automotive jobs for workers. Again, in April 2019, Masse wrote to Minister Bains and requested he act quickly on this before Canadian businesses and workers lost another opportunity that could boost our automotive and manufacturing industries for years to come.

Seventeen years after CAPC`s first report, and after another 2015 CAPC report was published calling for immediate government action, this government still has not taken action on the industry. In January 2018, the Liberal Government`s own auto czar, Ray Tanguay, released another report calling for immediate action. There has been no movement by the Trudeau Liberals despite industry leaders and Members of Parliament repeatedly standing up for the industry.

“We cannot continue turning a blind eye on such an important and vibrant industry. The ignorance and defeatist attitude of this government will not win us jobs and has shifted this industry into reverse. It’s time to turn it around, switch gears and drive this industry forward with a plan that presents opportunities for investment in our Canadian automotive industry and jobs for our workers,” Masse said.